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    • Matt Gaetz meets privately with senators to drum up support as House Ethics resolution approaches
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    Matt Gaetz meets privately with senators to drum up support as House Ethics resolution approaches

    Harry Posted on

    Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves
    | Associated Press

    washington – Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, launched an effort to personally secure his embattled nomination by meeting behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have questions about sexual harassment and other allegations against him.

    While Gaetz and senators holed up near the Senate, members of the House Ethics Committee were expected to meet to discuss the findings of a long-running investigation into their former colleagues. At least one Republican senator condemned the “lynch mob” against Gaetz; If confirmed, Gaetz would become the nation’s top law enforcement official.

    “I’m not going to justify destroying the man just because people don’t like his policies,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said as he left a special session of senators.

    “He deserves a chance to make the case for why he should be attorney general,” Graham said. “No rubber stamps, no lynch mobs.”

    Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who supports Gaetz’s candidacy, said: “If you have concerns, that’s okay. But don’t make up your mind yet. Let the man testify first.

    As senators met in Strom Thurmond Hall, Hawley said Gaetz was in a “cheerful” mood.

    It’s the beginning of a personal push by Gaetz, who has long denied the mounting allegations against him, to shore up Senate support for his confirmation as the nation’s attorney general. He is offering wide-ranging proposals to rid the Justice Department of those seen by Trump as “weaponizing” his work against the president-elect, his allies and conservatives in general.

    Guided by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Gaetz’s meeting with his Senate allies was largely a strategy session; Gaetz emphasized the need for a Senate hearing where he and Trump can lay out their vision for the Justice Department.

    This follows Gaetz’s meeting with the conservative House Freedom Caucus earlier in the week; members of this group expressed excitement about Gaetz’s approach to wholesale changes, creating a climate of concern and dismay within the Justice Department.

    But Gaetz is also in a race against the possibility of the release of the House Ethics Committee’s report, which would make the allegations against him public.

    At the same time, attorneys involved in a civil lawsuit filed by an employee of Gaetz were notified this week that an unauthorized party had accessed a file containing unedited statements shared between attorneys from a woman who said Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17. and a second woman who said she saw the encounter, according to attorney Joel Leppard.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson has said the Ethics Committee should not release the report since Gaetz quickly resigned his congressional seat, while some GOP senators have indicated they want all the information before deciding how to vote.

    Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who also met with Gaetz, said of the House Ethics Committee report: “We didn’t go into a lot of detail about what he expected to happen there, but he expressed confidence about what happened. The committee has a number of false accusations before them.”

    As soon as the new Congress convenes on January 3, with Republicans in control of the majority, senators are expected to begin holding hearings on Trump’s nominees, with the vote to take place on Inauguration Day on January 20.

    Gaetz, a longtime valued ally of Trump, was the star of congressional oversight hearings as conservatives railed against alleged favoritism at the Justice Department and blamed the former president for mishandling classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 law. Election before the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

    But the choice of the president-elect was one of the most surprising and provocative in the wake of the “Me Too” era and a broad social shift against alleged inappropriate sexual behavior.

    But the Senate has a long history of setting aside doubts about sexual conduct when it comes to confirming presidential nominees.

    Hawley said he thought the allegations against Gaetz were not credible.

    Harry
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